China reports 1,566 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases today

The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 1,566 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 1,401 were in Shanghai, according to the National Health Commission's report Sunday.

China's financial hub, Shanghai, has been facing the worst COVID-19 outbreak and has been desperately seeking medical care and basic supplies like food.

Shanghai authorities have imposed draconian lockdown measures since March that have locked 25 million residents in their homes. On April 3, the Chinese government announced the deployment of thousands of military personnel to Shanghai to assist in the mandatory testing of all 25 million residents for the virus that causes Covid-19.

On April 4, Shanghai authorities said the city would indefinitely remain under lockdown - meaning that residents are not allowed to leave their homes, as it reviews the results of the mass Covid testing.

Meanwhile, horrifying videos have emerged showing Shanghai residents screaming from their windows over strict COVID lockdown measures that prevent them from leaving home even for food.

In a clip posted online by a Twitter user that he said was taken by the father of his close friend who reported that "people (are) screaming outside of their windows after a week of total lockdown" because they "can't even step outside their apartments". Many screams can be heard from the windows of nearby apartment buildings in the footage, as per news.com.au.

China's much-publicised 'zero-covid' strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic till recently is falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020.